NZ bushwalker airlifted after Nowra fall

A NEW Zealand tourist got more than she bargained for during a bushwalk in Nowra on Monday morning.

A NEW Zealand tourist got more than she bargained for during a bushwalk in Nowra on Monday morning.

Yvonne Straman, 55, of Christchurch was walking on the popular Ben’s Walk on the edge of Nowra Creek with a friend, when she stumbled on some rocks, fell and hit her head.

Her walking companion, Debbie Cagney, a former Nowra local, who was also holidaying from New Zealand, raised the alarm after her friend suffered what appeared to be a fit.

Ms Straman was at the southern end of the 5.5km loop walk west of Nowra that starts at the rear of the Nowra Showground.

NSW Ambulance paramedics stabilised Ms Straman and with help from Fire and Rescue NSW crews from the Nowra and Shoalhaven brigades, she was carried out of the peaceful bush setting in a stokes litter.

The team of 10 emergency personnel made the rescue journey, carrying the injured woman for a couple of kilometres over rocky outcrops and boulders along the winding and steep narrow bush track.

Bomaderry ambulance supervisor Wayne Dunlop said the woman had a large laceration to the back of her head and suffered slight concussion.

Once carried from the area she was placed in a waiting ambulance and transported to the nearby West Street Oval where the Ambulance Rescue helicopter had landed and she was airlifted to Wollongong Hospital for further assessment.

LONG HAUL: NSW Ambulance paramedics and Fire and Rescue NSW crews from Nowra and Shoalhaven carry the injured bushwalker out of Ben’s Walk.